Is Misty Fjords a must see?

[dinomac]

Just wondering if Misty Fjords is a "must see"? I don't think we would do the flightseeing (as we are flightseeing Mt. McKinley), but would any of the cruises be worth the time and money?

[donaldsc]

IMHO, it is certainly a "should see".

 

DON

[dinomac]

IMHO, it is certainly a "should see".

 

DON

 

Why Don? Give me some reasons... Tell me what you enjoyed and why? What was the best part of touring Misty Fjords?

[Yukon]

Why see Misty Fjords? This one image from my trip last summer sums it up for me - http://explorenorth.com/blog/2273-430.jpg

[Budget Queen]

I have sailed it once and flown it over 10 times. Which I do every trip. The benefit of the flight is the "3D" look from above, which is vastly different from the ground level. You also can not get as far by boat.

 

Is it a "must" certainly, no. But it is very different than McKinley. You may also want to consider your flying experience, as a float plane is "different" than anything else. :)

[CruisingGoddess]

Personally, when we were in Ketchikan, we did Anan Creek Bear Viewing in July and thought that was the best experience in our lives. You can read about my experience and see photos here:

 

http://moonprincess.com/travel/442/

 

We also added Misty Fjords to this excursion but we were unable to go because of the weather.

[NancyIL]

Misty Fjords was the first excursion I booked for my first Alaska cruise in 2007. Ours was the first flight of the day, and we had to turn back after getting ~ 25% into Misty Fjords due to the low cloud ceiling. I haven't felt inclined to risk booking it again on 3 subsequent cruises.

[Budget Queen]

Misty Fjords was the first excursion I booked for my first Alaska cruise in 2007. Ours was the first flight of the day, and we had to turn back after getting ~ 25% into Misty Fjords due to the low cloud ceiling. I haven't felt inclined to risk booking it again on 3 subsequent cruises.

 

This was one flight, one day, going on 4 years ago. It certainly is not the norm. There is nothing perfect about scheduling flightseeing tours in Alaska. :) I just about always take the first flight out and have the last 4-5 years- every flight was very good weather, no rain on any of them. I' m going out again on a 7am flight, this year. Yes, I am jaded, if it's canceled, it's a "so what" to me. :) But, many flights go out as scheduled.

[NancyIL]

This was one flight, one day, going on 4 years ago. It certainly is not the norm. There is nothing perfect about scheduling flightseeing tours in Alaska. :) I just about always take the first flight out and have the last 4-5 years- every flight was very good weather, no rain on any of them. I' m going out again on a 7am flight, this year. Yes, I am jaded, if it's canceled, it's a "so what" to me. :) But, many flights go out as scheduled.

 

It doesn't matter that it was one flight...it was MY flight! :rolleyes: I would've preferred for the flight to have been cancelled, and I would've saved $438.

[CruisingGoddess]

It doesn't matter that it was one flight...it was MY flight! :rolleyes: I would've preferred for the flight to have been cancelled, and I would've saved $438.

 

I know what you mean. We were very happy that Family Air Tours was honest and said that we would not see anything if we flew to Misty Fjords that day, then gave us the choice if we wanted to go anyway. We took his advice and skipped it. He could have made an additional $220 from us but chose to refund our money.

[Summer5683]

They weren't "misty" when we went becuase the weather was actually too good. However, it was still beautiful and we really enjoyed the trip. I highly recommend it!

 

I've linked a video of our Misty Fjords tour if you want to get an idea about what you might experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmOyeV9pxHM.

[khank]

Thanks so much for posting this! We are doing this excursion in July - I can't wait!

[rockfsh]

They weren't "misty" when we went becuase the weather was actually too good. However, it was still beautiful and we really enjoyed the trip. I highly recommend it!

 

I've linked a video of our Misty Fjords tour if you want to get an idea about what you might experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmOyeV9pxHM.

 

 

Great video. What software did you use to put that together?

[Summer5683]

I used Pinnacle Studio for this one, however, in the past I've used Windows Movie Maker (which is free and also does a great job!).

[travelbuds]

Just wondering if Misty Fjords is a "must see"? I don't think we would do the flightseeing (as we are flightseeing Mt. McKinley), but would any of the cruises be worth the time and money?

 

Hi,

My wife and I flew with Island Wings in 2009 and had a very nice time. In June, we are going to try the boat trip into Misty Fiords. Wanted to do something a little different this time. Maybe see you there while on the Island!

Bruce

[Itasca]

I'd put it high on the list. I did a catamaran trip from Ketchikan. Nice scenery on a rather long run out then all of sudden New Eddystone rock sticking up like some sort of primeval lighthouse. Then Rudyard Bay with 3000 ft granite cliffs down into the water.

They were offering a combo boat/plane excursion. You transfer to a float-plane in Rudyard Bay. I recall seeing th plane climbing out about half way up the cliffs.

[Itasca]

I'd put it high on the list. I did a catamaran trip from Ketchikan. Nice scenery on a rather long run out then all of sudden New Eddystone rock sticking up like some sort of primeval lighthouse. Then Rudyard Bay with 3000 ft granite cliffs down into the water.

They were offering a combo boat/plane excursion. You transfer to a float-plane in Rudyard Bay. I recall seeing th plane climbing out about half way up the cliffs.

[psyfi]

We went with Island Wings in June. They were very accomodating as the ship arrived late and we were worried about getting there on time. They decided to push the first flight back by an hour which worked out perfectly. It was raining when we got there but an hour in, the rain had stopped and although it was still overcast. However, the rain had created tonnes of waterfalls all around Misty Fjords that Michelle said most of them would be gone by the next flight. It was very cool to do by floatplane. I don't think it would be as impressive by boat.

[kiwikim62]

This is our first time to Alaska and the Misty Fjords flightseeing sounds magical. I've seen pictures and would love to see it firsthand. I prefer to book independent and wonder if any operators give a better tour than the others. Island Wings sounds like a good one...do they book independents? And how do you recommend I get to and from the operator? I've been eying this site for a while now, but am finally getting the dirty work done by consulting the family & mapping out our itinerary. But we're just getting started. Thank you all for any help you provide. Many of us would be in big trouble without this site's guidance.

[Budget Queen]

This is our first time to Alaska and the Misty Fjords flightseeing sounds magical. I've seen pictures and would love to see it firsthand. I prefer to book independent and wonder if any operators give a better tour than the others. Island Wings sounds like a good one...do they book independents? And how do you recommend I get to and from the operator? I've been eying this site for a while now, but am finally getting the dirty work done by consulting the family & mapping out our itinerary. But we're just getting started. Thank you all for any help you provide. Many of us would be in big trouble without this site's guidance.

 

They are independent, along with many other excellent vendors. Most is not all, have transfers to/from the dock.

[frugaltravel]

This is our first time to Alaska and the Misty Fjords flightseeing sounds magical. I've seen pictures and would love to see it firsthand. I prefer to book independent and wonder if any operators give a better tour than the others. Island Wings sounds like a good one...do they book independents? And how do you recommend I get to and from the operator? I've been eying this site for a while now, but am finally getting the dirty work done by consulting the family & mapping out our itinerary. But we're just getting started. Thank you all for any help you provide. Many of us would be in big trouble without this site's guidance.

 

As BQ said, there are several independent operators. You might also check Taquan Air since they have a 2-for-1 coupon in Toursaver. It is a really good deal.

[CruisingJs]

They weren't "misty" when we went becuase the weather was actually too good. However, it was still beautiful and we really enjoyed the trip. I highly recommend it!

 

I've linked a video of our Misty Fjords tour if you want to get an idea about what you might experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmOyeV9pxHM.

 

Thanks for sharing that. We've got this booked for our trip and your video got me all amped up. I want to go now! What month were you there?